


No Place Like Home for the Holidays

by WobblyJellyfish



Category: RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Baking, Fluff, Multi, Oscar loves his family, Team Bonding, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 21:48:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,446
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28324110
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WobblyJellyfish/pseuds/WobblyJellyfish
Summary: Oscar enjoys the holiday festivities with his family.
Relationships: Jaune Arc/Lie Ren/Pyrrha Nikos/Nora Valkyrie
Comments: 2
Kudos: 25
Collections: JNPR Secret Santa 2020





	No Place Like Home for the Holidays

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Albion_93](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Albion_93/gifts).



> for the lovely Albion for the secret santa
> 
> I hope you like it, my friend!
> 
> and Happy Holidays!!

The winter holidays tended to be quiet, in Oscar’s experience. Back at the farm, it hadn’t felt much different than any other time of year – mostly staying indoors or tending to the animals with his aunt. But he did enjoy the large, hot meals his aunt would cook while he made garlands and decorations for the house, festive music playing in the kitchen while they made warm drinks. A sense of calm, like watching the light snowfall dusting the fields at night.

The holidays in the JNPR household were _not_.

Oscar had never seen so many people come and go from the house in such a condensed amount of time. Every other day they seemed to have visitors; Ruby and Penny (and one time with Pietro and Maria), Weiss and Blake and Yang, Qrow, team CFVY, Sun and Neptune, Saphron and Terra with Adrian. The faces were starting to become a bit of a blur. All the rooms had decorations set up, from tinsel and fairy lights on the walls to paper snowflakes in the windows and on all the doors, courtesy of Nora. There was always music and chatter and laughter, whether it was inside catching up or their antics outside in the blankets of snow. It was fun. But it was also _loud_.

As much as he had enjoyed the barely restrained festive chaos so far, Oscar was a little relieved to have a quieter day indoors. No guests, no loud music. Just a quiet day in with his family. The drop in temperature had led to the consistent light snowfall from the past few days to increase dramatically overnight, so many chunky flakes floating from the sky they could only just make out the end of the garden, the white blanket already several inches thick.

The cold also meant they’d apparently spent most of the day in the kitchen (Oscar having elected to read in his room for the late morning and early afternoon), making warm, hearty food and festive treats, almost reminding Oscar of being with his aunt. Ren and Pyrrha were at the island counter, chopping meat and vegetables to fry. Behind them, Nora insisted she was ‘helping’ by frying the onions, but seemed more focused on trying to steal as many bits of chopped carrots as she could, sticking her tongue out at her partners whenever she managed to grab one. At the table, Jaune was surrounded by baking ingredients, a bowl full of what looked like syrup in the middle. Everything smelled _so good_ when he walked into the kitchen.

“Oscar!” Nora squealed, immediately abandoning her post at the stove and barrelling across the room, crashing into the boy with such force it was a wonder they didn’t fall into the wall. “We missed you!”

“I was only upstairs,” Oscar said, but smiled and tried to return the hug.

“Still missed you.” Oscar chuckled when Nora ruffled his hair as she let him go, and again when she quickly shuffled back to the pan she’d abandoned when Ren raised an eyebrow at her.

“What are you guys making?” Oscar asked. He padded over to the table, resting his elbows on the back of one of the chairs. “It smells amazing.”

“Beef stew for tonight!” Pyrrha said, smiling brightly at him. “We could definitely do with something warm for the weather. What better to eat in front of the fire tonight?”

“We still need to finish preparing everything for the slow cooker,” Ren prompted gently, moving from chopping carrots to herbs.

“We’ve got plenty of time, dear,” Pyrrha reassured, pressing a quick kiss to his cheek.

Oscar chuckled, and turned his attention to Jaune. “What about you?” he asked. “What are you making?”

Jaune smiled, but still nervously rubbed the back of his neck. “I was gonna bake some gingerbread cookies,” he said. “Well, hopefully it’ll be gingerbread; I haven’t made it in a long time. I’ve got the syrup mixture ready, it’s just the rest to mix before making the dough.” His grin, widening, Jaune gestured to the ingredients on the table. “You wanna join in?”

“Yes, please!” Oscar couldn’t stop the beaming smile on his face, even if he had wanted to, and took a seat in the chair next to Jaune.

It had been such a long time since he’d done any baking. Especially so for any sweet treats, most of Oscar’s baking experience back at the farm being breads and pies. This was exciting, to attempt something (fairly) new, and even more to do it with his friends – his family, he kept reminding himself. Jaune was still grinning too as they began measuring out the flour into the bowl, trying to be as steady as possible so the dust wouldn’t go flying all over the table or themselves. Behind them, Ren had taken over frying from Nora, the smell of beef and onions and herbs filling the kitchen as Pyrrha set up the slow cooker and Nora continued ‘supervising’ (really just hugging Pyrrha from behind and singing along to the holiday music playing from the living room).

Their efforts to stay tidy didn’t last long. Gingerbread turned out to be messy. Both Jaune and Oscar ended up sneezing for a minute after measuring out the ginger and cinnamon powders too quickly, orange pluming into the air, leading to laughter afterwards. The mixing didn’t help, everything splattering everywhere when they turned on the mixer, splatters all over the table and on their clothes, a little bit even getting in Oscar’s hair. Jaune still laughed as he went to grab a cloth to clean up his friend – the others having vacated the kitchen by now – and chuckled as he tried to brush off some of the flour from his arms. “This is very familiar,” he said, laughter still in his voice, as her rubbed the towel on Oscar’s head.

The smaller boy snorted and made a half-hearted attempt to bat Jaune’s hands away, before looking up at him with a slightly quizzical expression. “How so?” Oscar asked.

“I used to do a lot of baking at home, with my mom and some of my sisters,” Jaune said. He finished ruffling Oscar’s hair, and set about partly cleaning the table. “Cakes, biscuits, pastries, always in huge batches so there were plenty for all of us. One of us would always end up covered in flour or mixture. It, uh – it was usually me.”

Oscar giggled. “I’ve never really baked with other people before,” he said. “Well, not sweet things anyway.”

“No?”

“Not really. I mostly made bread while my aunt would prepare dinner,” Oscar paused as he got a better grip on the mixer, the dough now not launching itself across the kitchen. “A couple of pies and stuff. I think I like this better, though. It’s definitely less messy than bread.”

“Dust, I dread to think, considering how much mess we’ve made just making cookies.” Jaune’s laugh melted into a sigh as Oscar stopped mixing, sprinkling flour onto the table _on purpose_ this time – as they’d insisted to an amused Ren when he’d come back in temporarily to check the stew – before tipping out the now solid dough. “I like this too. It’s definitely not as chaotic as five or six of us crowding around mom and the kitchen counter. But it’s nice to get to do something like this with family again.”

Oscar blinked. The rolling pin in his hand clattered onto the chair in front of him. He _knew_ JNPR were his family, that they had been for such a long time and probably always had been. But still, every time he heard it, whenever one of them reminded him, it was like Oscar was hearing it for the first time again, freezing as emotion and love for his guardians (even if that word felt weird). Jaune chuckled and placed a hand on his shoulder. “You okay there, buddy?” he asked.

“Ye-Yeah,” Oscar mumbled, before rushing Jaune in a hug, reminiscent of one of Nora’s, hugging himself tight against Jaune’s chest. “I just … I just really love you guys.”

Jaune hummed, smiling as he returned the hug. “We love you, too. You’ll always be a part of our family, Oscar.”

“Absolutely.” Another voice prompted them to break apart, looking over to the doorway to see Pyrrha, leaning against the doorframe and smiling softly. “I wanted to see how you boys are doing.”

Picking up the rolling pin from the chair, Oscar continued rolling out the dough as Pyrrha wandered over and quickly kissed Jaune’s cheek. “You’re just in time, actually,” Jaune said. “We just need to finish rolling the dough and cut them out. I guess _someone_ might want to help with that?” Pyrrha didn’t answer, not properly; only blushing and murmuring something about Nora and Ren putting in ‘shape requests’ as she retrieved the cookie cutter from the cupboard.

There was about enough dough for about five cookies each, and five shapes each. It was certainly handy to have a metal controlling semblance, as Pyrrha warped the circle in her hand. Even if it only really saved on the number of cookie cutters they had. Snowflakes for Ren, bells for herself, stars for Jaune. Pyrrha giggled when she morphed the cutter into a pine tree, claiming Nora wanted them for ‘their own cute little Pine tree’, Jaune and Oscar fully laughing as they picked up the cookies and laid them on the tray. Smiling gently, Pyrrha asked what shape Oscar wanted, the metal cutter glowing black and twirling in her hand. Oscar looked down at his sweater, a gift from his aunt last year, and quietly asked for reindeer, grinning widely as Pyrrha shifted the shape and stamped out the faces before Jaune put the tray in the oven.

From the living room, Nora could be heard babbling excitedly, then suddenly appearing in the kitchen, parka only half on and dragging Ren by the hand as she asked if any of them wanted to join them outside in the snow. Laughing, Oscar glanced at the oven, then at Jaune and Pyrrha, who were both beaming. The cookies wouldn’t take long. What better way to wait for them to cool down than to have fun outside?

***

An hour or so and one very long fought snowball fight later, it was time to head back inside, the light outside having nearly completely faded to night. Oscar brushed the snow out of his hair as he kicked his boots off, hanging his coat and scarf up and smiled as he looked towards the living room. Ren, seated in the corner by the lamp reading, while Jaune and Nora danced to the music on the radio, Nora standing on Jaune’s feet as they held each other’s hands.

He was distracted, though, when he heard shuffling and soft clattering coming from the kitchen. Wandering in, head tilted a little, Oscar was met with the sight of Pyrrha gathering small containers from one of the cupboards, and the island _covered_ in bowls, spoons and empty piping bags, the plate of now cooled gingerbread cookies set on top of the oven. She’d gone inside from the snow much earlier, claiming there was something she needed to get started, and now Oscar could see why. “What … is all this?” he asked, slightly in awe, as he approached the counter and stared at just how many different colours of icing Pyrrha had made.

“Oh, Oscar!” Pyrrha said. She just caught herself from dropping the little container of sprinkles in surprise, but still smiled brightly at him. “I’ve, ha, been put in charge of decorating the cookies. Apparently, I’m ‘best at it’ and ‘the only one who can do it justice’.” They both giggled at her air quotes, and Pyrrha gestured for Oscar to join her. “You’re more than welcome to join me, though! In fact, I’d appreciate the company.”

“I’d love to,” Oscar said, returning the brief hug he was pulled into.

There were _so many colours_. It looked as if Pyrrha had mixed a bowl for every festive colour possible, with little tubes of different shades to the side, presumably for more detail. They split the designs between them, Oscar taking the reindeers and trees and Pyrrha the rest. Taking one of the piping bags, Pyrrha scooped in some gold icing for the bells, demonstrating how to use them before letting him try on another cookie. It was surprisingly easy, considering Oscar hadn’t iced anything before, once he managed to get a solid grip on the bag. Meanwhile, Pyrrha watched on proudly, a smile beaming across her face as Oscar moved back to start decorating on his own cookies.

Solid shapes were definitely easier, Oscar noted as he carefully iced along the reindeers’ antlers and glanced back to the emerald green trees next to them. At least the icing dried quickly, he realised; he wouldn’t have to wait even longer to finish up. “I hope the others don’t mind orange reindeers,” Oscar murmured, finishing off the antler on the last cookie and fixing the smudges on the edges with a spoon.

Pyrrha chuckled, and rubbed her arm a little. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I did try to make brown icing, but it kept turning out all sludgy, so I made orange.”

“No, no, it’s fine!” Oscar protested. “Maybe they just put on too much spray tan?”

Putting down the bag, Pyrrha properly laughed, covering her mouth with one hand. “Oh, I like that! They were in the tanning bed too long! Nora will love that when we tell her.” Oscar hummed in agreement, and began the extra decorations.

Somehow there were even more confectionary decorations to choose from than icing colours, as Oscar’s eyes scanned the little containers. Hmmm. Some other tube icing to make tinsel on the trees seemed like a good idea, picking red and yellow, and the little shaker of sprinkles for baubles. Reindeers could have black tube icing to make the faces, and perhaps some silver ball bearings as sleigh bells could work nicely. Working through the trees, Oscar frowned; it was like something was missing. “Do we have anything I could use for stars?” he asked, looking over to the other tubs and containers surrounding Pyrrha.

“Yes! I have some sugar stars,” Pyrrha said, picking up a small packet full of tiny, silver stars. As she handed them over, her eyes widened as she looked at Oscar’s cookies on the counter. “Oh my goodness, _Oscar_ ,” she exclaimed. “These are beautiful! I had no idea you were such a biscuit decorating artist!”

Chuckling, Oscar rubbed the back of his neck; certainly a trait he’d picked up from Jaune. “I, uh, I’ve never actually done icing or anything before,” he confessed. “But I did do a lot of decorating around the house for the holidays when I was living with my aunt. A lot of the decorations I made myself and had to paint them, and I figured this wouldn’t be too different from what I used to do.”

“They’re lovely, Oscar, truly,” Pyrrha said, tilting her head a little as she smiled softly at him. “I love the tinsel and lights on the trees! And the bells on the reindeer are so cute! It’s almost a shame we’re going to be eating them.”

“You say that like yours aren’t amazing too,” Oscar said, staring at the intricate patterns on the snowflakes and stars, and ribbon details on the bells.

“Thank you. But I’ve had a lot of practice, being the one who always does the baking decorations.” She giggled. “Apparently wielding weapons for such a long time means I have really steady hands? That’s what Ren said to me the first time. But you’ve done all this with no practice at all, and it’s wonderful.” Pyrrha pulled Oscar into another hug, ruffling his hair, but a beeping from across the kitchen caught their attention.

“We should probably clear most of this away and let everyone know the stew is ready,” Oscar said.

“We should, but first,” Pyrrha agreed, and began neatly arranging all of their gingerbread on a large plate, “I think we should hide these so they can be a surprise after dinner.”

A minute later, and Ren was too distracted checking and finishing up dinner to question why Pyrrha had Oscar on her shoulders and why they seemed to be hiding something on top of the refrigerator, only raising a confused eyebrow at them. Pyrrha and Oscar merely grinned at each other.

***

None of them really wanted to move. The fire crackled in front of them, their empty bowls sat on the coffee table. Oscar was curled up in the armchair, with everyone else taking up the sofa; Nora snuggled up against Pyrrha’s shoulder, who in turn was leaning on Jaune, who had Ren laying down with his head in his lap. “That stew was definitely needed after being out in the cold,” Pyrrha murmured. “Thank you, dear.” She reached over and gently swept Ren’s bangs out of his face, Ren humming at her touch.

“You’re welcome,” he said, voice hushed. “But it was Nora’s idea to go outside.”

“It was a great idea!” Nora insisted, folding her arms and pouting a little. “We had fun! And at least it didn’t turn into a snowball war like when Sun and Neptune came over.”

“Please don’t remind us about the snowball war,” Jaune sighed. “I still don’t think my arms have recovered from that.” All of them chuckled, Ren and Pyrrha both reaching up to ruffle Jaune’s hair.

“Oh! Speaking of snow,” Oscar said, and smiled at Pyrrha, who untangled herself from her partners’ grasps and headed to the kitchen, taking the empty bowls with her.

Ren shifted off Jaune’s lap to sit back upright, reaching up to stretch his arms, while Nora bounced excitedly in her seat until Jaune placed a hand on her knee. There was an amused huff from Ren and Oscar chuckled, vacating the armchair and sitting down on the arm of the sofa next to Nora.

A few minutes later and Pyrrha strode back in, carrying a tray with the plate of cookies surrounded by five mugs of hot chocolate, steam billowing across her face. She’d even made sure to use their favourite mugs, Oscar noticed as Pyrrha was handing them over, Nora beaming while holding her pink sloth mug, and Jaune and Ren blushing behind their respective Pumpkin Pete’s and frog mugs. All the while, Pyrrha was grinning, sitting back down between Nora and Jaune and stretched across to hand Oscar his drink.

“These are amazing!” Nora said, still munching one of her tree cookies. “They taste so _good_!”

“You two did a wonderful job,” Ren agreed. Next to him, Jaune’s blush darkened even more, whilst Oscar grinned before taking a bite of one of his own cookies.

“Heh, thank you,” Jaune said. “But look at the decorating! Pyrrha, these starbursts are incredible! And the patterns and little pearls on those snowflakes are beautiful.”

“Yeah!” Nora held up one of the trees, tracing the tinsel lines of icing. “The sprinkles are so cute! And the star! You gotta do these again, babe, _please_.”

Glancing across and sharing a look with Oscar, Pyrrha giggled. “ _Actually_ ,” she said. “I didn’t decorate all the cookies on my own. Mine, Jaune’s and Ren’s, yes. But _Oscar_ did yours, and his reindeers.”

There was a silence hanging in the air as the four of them turned to look at him, and Oscar started to nervously rub the back of his neck again. He opened his mouth to speak, but before he could form any actual words Nora had launched herself at him in another hug, knocking him off the arm of the sofa and sending them both tumbling to the floor. “Why didn’t you tell us you were so good at this?” Nora exclaimed. She moved back and sat on the floor, and took Oscar’s hand and pulled him up for him to do the same. “You’re so talented! I love those holiday trees so much!”

“You really are full of surprises,” Ren said; Oscar looked past Nora’s shoulder to see the rest of his family leaning over the sofa and smiling down at him.

“I’m glad you liked them,” was all Oscar said, as he and Nora got back on the sofa and four pairs of arms wrapped him in a tight hug.

He didn’t really care if the rest of the holiday season was quiet or the noise of guests picked up again, Oscar thought as he hugged them back. As long as it was with his family, he was happy, and more than enough.

**Author's Note:**

> any and all kudos and comments are appreciated! <3


End file.
